Spiritual Awakening – The Right Attachment
A false attachment is a belief, a mental and emotional program that says that without something or someone, we cannot be happy or satisfied
1. Find an attachment that is more secure and ultimately more satisfying than all our false attachments – and lesser attachments will slowly drop away
Philip. 4:10-13 (NIV)
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. [11] I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. [12] I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. [13] I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Only when we attach ourselves to Christ who satisfies us at our deepest levels can we drop the false attachments that never satisfy in the long term
Philip. 3:4-9 (GW)
… If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical (confidence in their own efforts, NLT), I can claim even more. [5] I was circumcised on the eighth day. I'm a descendant of Israel. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a pure-blooded Hebrew. When it comes to living up to standards, I was a Pharisee. [6] When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the church. When it comes to winning God's approval by keeping Jewish laws, I was perfect.
[7] These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. [8] It's far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I'm much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It's because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ [9] and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn't receive God's approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God's approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith
Philip. 3:8 (GW)
“I consider everything else worthless because I'm much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Philip. 3:8-9 (GW)
…“I threw it all away in order to gain Christ [9] and to have a relationship with him.”
Philip. 3:9 (GW)
…This means that I didn't receive God's approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God's approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith
We attach ourselves to Christ not by self-effort or obedience but by first becoming aware of His approval of us and then, simply receiving that approval by faith
It is only because He has already attached Himself, His approval, grace and His love to us that enables us to attach ourselves to Him simply by receiving…
Philip. 3:12-14 (NLT)
I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. [13] No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, [14] I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.
Keep on being aware of His loving attachment to us and it will be easier to forget the past, to attach ourselves to Him and to what lies ahead in His Grace
2. Enjoy all our pleasures according to the order that God designed them to be enjoyed
Romans 6:12 (NIV)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires
εϕπιθυμιϖα: epithumia – An over-desire, excessive desire.
False attachment is turning good things into ultimate things
Disordered attachments occurs when we put our loves and pleasures in the wrong order
It is possible to enjoy all the different pleasures and blessings of God in a non-attachment and non-clinging basis